Michael White Trading In Pasta for Pizza (Temporarily)

Michael White's sure been busy, opening rustic-chic Osteria Morini just a little over a year ago, followed shortly thereafter with his fancier prix-fixe Ai Fiori (not to mention also launching Al Molo in Asia). No question that the man has a way with pasta, but now comes word that he's switching starches. Yep, White will be opening a pizza place in the East Village called Nicoletta, reports Diner's Journal.

The pizzas will be baked in a gas-fired brick oven but will be different and crisper, with six or eight available in total. He plans to use a whole-milk mozzarella made to his specifications in Wisconsin. There will also be a takeout window, but it won't sell slices.

And White has his eyes set on expanding even more in the Far East. "Asia is really a natural place to be. ... Italian food is the ethnic food of choice, really, because of the fact that there is a pasta and noodle culture, it's natural to go do pasta in the Far East," he told The Daily Meal just this week. The man's on a mission, for sure.